Cousins Come to Texas!

We were so lucky to have Aunt Julie, Uncle Andy, Caitlin and David come and visit after Christmas! We had so much fun. We got to have yet another Christmas and most importantly we got to spend time together. Will and Jeanne and Jillian all love and adore their Aunt, Uncle and especially their cousins. They were absolutely in heaven having new playmates at the house 24/7. Every morning Will would wake up and ask how many more nights could they stay? He kept trying to make the number bigger.

The Cox Family was able to join us for yet another successful Mai Tai Fest! Even though we did not win this year...we all had fun...and the Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl..which helped Brian cope with the Mai Tai Fest defeat.
Hot Tub! Since the cousins were in from Ohio and our cold spell of 50 degrees or so seemed like a heat wave...we spent quite a bit of time in the hot tub. The kids had a ball...and even the grown ups did too:) Not all at the same time as that would have to be a really big hot tub!

Yes...they all humored me while I took pictures of the hottubbing!

CC and Jillian...Jillian loved all of the excitement and extra attention she got from her cousins, Aunt and Uncle. Uncle Andy still has the baby whisperer thing going for him that is for sure.

Jillian and her Aunt Julie who can always make her laugh!

"The Baby Whisperer"

Christmas Part 2: Taylor/ Cox Style

Will and Jeanne could not rip through their presents fast enough..so they offerred to help Jillian who took her time.

Is she done yet?

Merry Christmas!

Jillian's First Christmas! I think she liked it. We had a great Christmas..and even got some snow. A white Christmas in Texas who would of thought.
This was our "Texas Snow Ball Fight". It is kind of sad..but the kids loved it! You will note that we do not have the appropriate attire for a snow ball fight...but we made it work.

Jillian tried her hardest to open the Twizzlers!

Sleeping Beauty modeling one of her presents while opening another...what a great day!

Santa brought Will a DS for Christmas! He was so excited.

Cookies for Breakfast...Santa left a few cookies on the plate that the kids decided would make a great breakfast on Christmas day! They even let Jillian in on the action.

Our White Christmas!!!

Buckeye the elf was a good friend that spent the last month or so at the house...and reporting back to Santa on who was naughty and nice. Luckily they all ended up on the Nice list..even though it was touch and go for a while:)

Santa wrote letters to each of the kids!

Family Pics- By Uncle Jeff

Jillian- 7 and 1/2 months

I decided to torture the kids(and Brian) and do some family pics. Jeff took them for us and did a great job. I have posted a few. Jeff did a great job and the kids cooperated for the most part!

Jeanne- 3 years

The whole crew..Jillian is trying to figure out how she got here!

Will- 5 and 1/2 years old

Decorating the Tree

Decorating the tree was no tall order this year...we had lots of helpers to get it all ready! Luckily we escaped with no injuries and the best tree ever...according to Will!
This was Jeanne's section of the tree where she hung every ornament that she could get her hands on. Mommy did some reorganization after everyone went to bed.

Everyone was very eager to get on the ladder...see why we were so excited about no injuries!

It seemed that they always needed to use the ladder to hang their ornaments...even if they used it backwards!

ORNAMENTS!!!

Sharing the ladder...also very safe!

Jessica's Baby Shower

We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby V...yes we are calling him or her Baby V..since we do not know what they are having! It has been most trying for me:) It makes it hard to buy clothes for my new niece or nephew! Oh well..I will just have to work overtime once he or she is here.
Jess looks adorable and we had a lot of fun at her shower!

Jillian with Ivy....Bryce and Layne will be so jealous...well really just Bryce.

Pics of Jess and Mike....what will Baby V look like? and more importantly...how big will he or she be? Mike was a 9 pound 7 ounce baby! Yikes...good luck Jess!

Lots of great stuff for Baby V!

The Parente/Taylor/Vieira Girls

Presents for Baby V

The diaper cake!

Cupcakes..note the green and brown..thank you Jess for not finding out what you are having:)

Krisitin and Erin came in from Gainesville for the shower and Susan made up from Dallas! We were so happy to have everyone here to celebrate!

Jillian_6 Months

As you can see...we are sitting up..drooling a lot and love our hand-me-down toys from Will and Jeanne! You never know what you will find in Jillian's bed...Jeanne like to get as many random things as possible and throw them in the bed for Jillian to play with...sometimes she throws herself in too. Fortunately, Jillian seems to love it! Her face lights up when Will and Jeanne are around.
It is Will in a pink outfit...although she is looking a bit more like Jeanne.

Getting ready for Jessica's shower...Jillian was helping with the Tulle.

Who knew how exciting tulle could be?

Happy Girl...still drooling!

November 2009_Nursery Rhyme Parade and Citizenship Award

The Kindergartners at Will's school have been reading and learning about nursery rhymes. At the end of that unit, they had a nursery rhyme character parade. It was very cute. After a little searching by mom and a little help from some friends, we found overalls, a horn and a sheep and Will was transformed into Little Boy Blue! The parade was very cute and we all enjoyed seeing all the kids in their costumes. Even Brian and Gigi were able to be there. It was a good thing, because at the school assembly before the parade, Will was given the Principal's Award for Kindergarten. It is a citizenship award. We were so proud of him and were so glad that we could be there. He was very excited. When he came home from school he told me that he got a "reward" for being the best Kindergartner! He was so excited!
Will and his sheep had had enough of the paparazzi!

Of course we can't go off to school in costume without some photos.

Little Boy Blue